


The game is on

by Kizuka_Nakahara



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, Monopoly (Board Game), Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-07-20 21:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16145981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kizuka_Nakahara/pseuds/Kizuka_Nakahara
Summary: [Follows the AU from Unlikely Friendship but can be read alone.]Rupert avoided people at all costs and people avoided him. Although, as a journalist, he needed to show just a minimum of social skills, so he accepted a challenge from his boss, Gavin Reed, and showed up on a low-key meeting with Gavin and his... flatmates.





	The game is on

Rupert was balancing on his feet as he waited for Gavin to open the door to his house. He showed up on time and hoped that the boss didn't troll him with this invitation.

The building looked just a tiny bit run-down, some of the windows were covered, while two of them were clattered with plants.

It slowly started to rain. Rupert was still in one place when he suddenly got a message on his phone. He already seemed upset with a gut feeling that Gavin pranked him, but he had to check it, to be sure.

 _Listen, I'm not a person who will run down just to open the doors. The key is under the doormat, come in and leave the key in the lock on the inner side._ We're waiting.

Yes, it made sense for _anyone_ who knew Reed. The journalist, despite his cheerful working spirit, was a really lazy bum. He could toss the documents to anyone just because he didn't want to stand up.

The man shyly took the key and unlocked the door. The corridor was ordinary, just some old wallpaper with a few stains, a shoe cabinet and coat hooks.

He took off his trainers and hung his jacket on the hook. Nearly no noise was audible from upstairs. Rupert obviously didn't wait for anyone, after several shy steps he came to the stairs and went up.

"The Pope sees you."

He nearly jumped at that sudden announcement. The person who spoke didn't show up, so Rupert went on and looked for a light switch.

"The Pope sees you."

The voice was louder, which seemed weird to Rupert because he thought he passed by that person.

"Who are you?"

"The Pope sees you."

He finally turned on the lights. There was a white cockatoo, sitting on the table and peeking at him.

"What's your name, birdie?"

"Vanellope."

Rupert frowned. "Who does name a bird Vanellope?"

"Not the one who named his pug The Pope."

And when the cockatoo said that, mentioned pug showed up and came to Rupert, panting.

The man crouched and petted the dog, which was very happy to meet such a nice person as Rupert.

"Damn it, if making you more sociable was just about taking that crazy dog to work, I would do it _years_ ago!"

Yes, Gavin always liked to scare his workers by making stupid big entrances or showing up without a warning. This time, he got a scowl about a possible heart attack in response.

He led his guest to one of the rooms and pointed at the prepared seat. Rupert sat down hesitantly and looked around.

They were in a lounge, encircling a large table with a laid down Monopoly board. He looked at it questioningly.

"Come on, it's gonna be fun, you useless nerd." Gavin handed him game money, explained which pawn is his and smiled encouragingly. "Look, this is Ralph and that one emo is Walter. We've been playing for several minutes, so you've already got some cities."

"Isn't that weird to play like this, without me?" Rupert pointed out.

"We're kinda used to start the game without someone. Anyway, I need you to know the rules. Don't worry, when we're simulating your moves, we're doing it without dirty moves." Walter leaned and handed Rupert his cards. "So, Ralph has the dices and won't give it back, he's rolling for all of us. Walter is most often the banker. Is that clear?"

The man looked away and nodded reluctantly. He arranged his bills in order and did the same to cards. 

"Cool. Let's focus on something else right now. The chance fields. Like you can see," he pointed once again at the board, "we've got no chance cards. When you get that, you can choose the other player and ask them a question. Ralph rolls the dice and the bigger number you get, the bigger question you can ask. If the player doesn't want to answer, he gives you five Benjamins."

Walter rolled his eyes and sighed. "There's no Benjamin on those bills. Just say five hundred."

"Let go of me, emo."

Rupert saw a scary look on Walter's face, but the man said nothing about being called an emo.

On the other side of the table, Ralph picked up the dices and rolled them. "Look! Look! The guest got eight!"

They all came back to the game. Rupert quickly noticed how nice that part went - without any big arguments, without raising voices. The scarred one, how in thoughts Ralph was called by Rupert, liked to announce loudly the numbers with utter happiness, even if the dices fell off the table and someone had to read them for him.

Walter and Gavin looked a bit like chess players during a game. Of course, they were having fun with Ralph and Rupert, but there was something in their eyes. Like a war. The young journalist assumed that had some kind of hidden rules between themselves. He didn't dare to ask about it. 

"Ralph got a question for the guest!"

The sudden statement shocked Rupert, who was lost in thought at the time. He checked his heart without thinking, getting a snort from Gavin because of that. 

"Okay," he stated quietly and looked once again and the weird dweller of Gavin's house.

Ralph rolled the dices and got a six. He started to hum quietly, along with rocking lightly. Rupert used that moment to contemplate about him. There was something odd in that innocent face, he looked weird among his flatmates. They were looking sharply professional, while Ralph... was just Ralph.

Rupert smiled to himself, thinking that he would pass as their backward son. 

"Ralph wants to know why did the guest want to work for Gavin."

The said man and Walter exchanged a nod and said nothing. Rupert exhaled.

"Well, it's not so long story. I was interested in being a journalist and I knew Gavin form school. When I found that he's the owner of a newspaper, I wanted to try to get the job. Wasn't expecting him to remember me." Rupert looked away, a bit embarrassed.

"The guest seems like he wouldn't like to work for someone like Gavin."

Rupert looked around and even for a moment, he wanted to stop. He answered the question. It wasn't an interview.

"Uhm. He kinda didn't let me go anywhere else." It was hard to admit, especially with Gavin sitting next to him. 

Reed laughed and told Ralph that it's enough.

Walter got up and brought some drinks for everyone. Rupert thanked and asked about this under his breath. He couldn't find any explanation of how they know about his favourite coffee. 

"Aesthetics, Rupert."

"What?" 

"You've made aesthetics with this coffee, so we assumed you like it." The man smiled slightly. 

Walter's gazes were still making Rupert nervous, and the journalist couldn't explain why.

Eventually, he got to the chance field. He exhaled and looked at Ralph, who was about to roll the dices. 

"Oh! The guest got twelve!"

Rupert didn't think about the question for anyone, he was just kinda busy with the game. He knew that they probably knew about that too and that why they were so quiet. 

"So. I can ask one of you."

"Only one!" Ralph exclaimed happily.

The journalist scratched his head and thought a bit about it.

"Uhm, Walter." The man moved his gaze to him, making Rupert shiver. "I don't know if that's a question for you, but I'm gonna ask anyway. You seem to like hanging out with Ralph and all. How did you meet?"

He smiled widely. "It's a good thing you got a large number. It's not a thing we would like to share with someone new. We met in court."

"That's the whole answer?"

"You asked for more, so I'll go on. Like you probably assumed, Ralph is not working in any branch of law. He was accused of a murder and I was the prosecutor in that case."

"He's innocent, right?"

"They just keep an eye on him. The final verdict stated that it was self-defence. Ralph was squatting in an abandoned house in the suburbs and he got attacked by the other man, who also squatted. Since Ralph couldn't do that anymore, I offered him a room in our house. Gavin believed he would get an interview with him."

Rupert took a sharp breath and trembled. He finally understood why that secret deserved a higher number on dices.

It's not like he had never met a criminal before. It was just surprising that Ralph would be even accused of something like that. 

Rupert felt a hand on his shoulder. Gavin was making sure that everything's alright, so the young journalist nodded slightly, not wanting to talk about it. 

It's just like this, just a journalist, a prosecutor and a would-be murderer. Nothing to worry about. 

He knew that if he even wanted to tell anyone, they would find him. It's a secret, after all. Ralph was not a criminal and he got no right to call him like that.

Rupert put his best poker face and took a sip of his coffee.

Gavin and Walter exchanged glances again and let Ralph pick up the dices once again. After some time, they were asking themselves dumb questions about their music tastes when they had been teenagers.

It was still raining outside. The trees were leaning and humming, being moved by wind. Nothing to interrupt the four their game.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading it! I know it's kinda messy, but it was sitting in my head for so long, so here it is. Feel free to leave a trace or check my other works!


End file.
